The pair combined for 35 points Tuesday night as the Warriors eased past the struggling New Orleans Hornets, 102-89 at Oracle Arena.

Ellis finished with a game-high 21 while Curry had 14 on 5-for-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Golden State was 10-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Hornets guard Chris Paul hit his first four shots and scored 11 points in the first quarter, then missed his next eight attempts as New Orleans faded, losing for the eighth time in the last 10 games. Paul was held scoreless the rest of the game.

The Hornets, who play Wednesday night at Portland, won here on Jan. 26 for their record-tying 10th consecutive victory but have won only twice in their next 10 games.

David West and Marco Belinelli each had 15 for the Hornets.

Tuesday night’s rubber match was playing out strangely similar to the first two games: Hornets start fast, then fizzle as the Warriors battle back.

New Orleans led by 15 points in the first quarter, then watched as Golden State’s quick-strike capability brought the Warriors back into the game in a flash. Led by 10 points from guard Ellis in the second quarter, the Warriors outscored the Hornets 36-21 in the second period to lead at halftime 58-53.

Ellis’ 3-pointer with 3:43 to go in the quarter gave Golden State its first lead of the night, and merely drove home the point Monty Williams has been trying to make to his team since it last played here on Jan. 26: they need to play a full 48 minutes.

Once again, Williams saw the kind of defensive slippage that first manifest itself here that night against the Warriors, who battled back in the fourth quarter of that game, so much so that Williams had to re-insert his starters late in the game to hold on for a 112-103 win.

“Yeah, we’ve had it the past few games and it started here,” Williams said of the Hornets’ defensive inconsistencies. “It would be a great time to get it back going in the right direction. But we don’t have enough talent to rest on our offense or a lead that we may have. We’ve shown even when we have a lead, we have to continue to play the game out until the horn blows. When we don’t do that, it hasn’t gone well for us.”

That Tuesday night proved to be a microcosm of the Hornets’ recent struggles was evident, and not what Williams had hoped to see.

The Warriors were coming in having won five of their last seven games.

“They’ve built some confidence over these last few games,” Williams said. “For us, it’s about effort and defense.”

Warriors Coach Keith Smart was hoping his team could reverse its trend of starting slow this season against the Hornets, but New Orleans sprinted to a 32-22 lead after one, thanks to 11 points from Paul, who played without wearing the knee brace on his left knee for the first time this season.

“We want to play our pace, but it’s important we’re not just taking shots, we’ve got to get shot in the paint off the break,” said Smart, whose team had 10 fast-break points and 24 in the paint in the first half. “I think (in the first two games) we took a lot of jump shots to start the game off. We didn’t have anything in the paint. We’ve got to drive the ball for opportunities.”

The Hornets, meanwhile, were just hoping to learn from their recent mistakes and comprehend the message Williams has been offering.

“I think our guys know that, especially the older guys,” Williams said. “Some of the guys on our team, this is the first time they’ve ever been in this situation, Marco (Belinelli), Jason (Smith), Marcus (Thornton) . . . . Jarrett (Jack) has never been to the playoffs.

“And I’m talking to these guys about making a playoff push, some of them have no idea what I’m talking about. I think the older guys know it. Guys who’ve been there. But conveying that message sometimes you have to go through a tough stretch to realize it.

“I think these games we’ve had lately should help us understand the kind of basketball we have to play.”